The Demon of the North Wind
by xxLuna's Flower o.0xx
Summary: Primeval gods have long been forgotten by the shinobi world. And yet there was a girl with the mark of the Dragon engraved in her flesh, and a chilling coldness in her eyes. For the power to accomplish revenge, a child has sold her soul, and hardened her heart. But the desires of a woman will burn her resolve, the bonds of family will become the salvation that saves many.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter one: From the Eagle point**_

Beneath the churning storm filled sky, Sasuke sat propped up against the ruined shard of a wall, amongst the debris that used to be an Akastsuki base. His blank dark eyes took in the destruction he and Itachi had wrought, a cold, icy sensation slithered across his skin, seeped deep into his bones, into his soul, wrapping tightly around his heart like a sharp wire. It bled what little feeling he had left, the anger, the hatred, the anguish, leaving him completely empty. Was this all he was capable of, was that the Uchiha legacy. To corrupt, poison, and destroy anything that they cherished.

The salty smell of his tears made his stomach churn, their hot path down his cheeks made his skin burn. There was no sense in fulfillment at accomplishing his lifelong goal, just a lingering bitterness. He refused to look into the glassy, unseeing pale blue orbs of the girl beside him; the image was already burned deep inside his retinas.

The short tendrils of her snowy hair fanned around her heart shaped face, her head lying oddly against the ground from her smashed in skull. A river of her blood seeping into the frozen soil, the color drained from her still smiling lips. Her hand reached out her fingers still curled from when she held his hand tightly, whispering how much she loved him and Itachi, how much she missed Naruto, as the light slowly faded from her eyes.

Sasuke knew with the sharp clarity of a man about to die, that he would no longer dream of the nightmarish bloody violence of his family's murder, that the bright red splatter of blood would no longer color his vision, or the screams pierce his ears. The new scene of his nightmare would be this monochrome back drop, the sharp silence, the empty feeling. But the burden wouldn't be his alone would it. It would be his, Itachi's, and Naruto's, they alone would carry the burden of the lost girl in their hearts forever.

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><p>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter two: On the Ravens Perch**_

Itachi had seen death before, had smelt bodies far in the stages of decay, and he had stood over it apathetically, unmoved. Yet, there was nothing quite like this, he couldn't stomach it, but he couldn't look away either.

Itachi felt listless, mentally exhausted and completely lost. His senses were hypersensitive, his nostrils burned from the acrid perfume of bile, mixed with the metallic scent of blood and her familiar aroma. The feel of the cold dirt digging into his cheek stung, the pain radiating in his side from his broken ribs made it hard to breathe, and the loose strands of his hair tickling his nose itched.

But even bombarded with all those sensations, the worst feeling of all was her cold fingers still curled in his palm, searing into his skin like a hot brand. But Itachi refused to let go, it was as if he was trying to keep her there, even though he knew she had already gone.

_**He would be haunted by this for the rest of his life. **_

The truth of his claim sent a chill vibrating down his spine, made him want to sob, to let go of his last shreds of sanity, to give into hopelessness. At this moment the lucidity of his healed eyes was more of a curse than blessing, creating a bitter seed inside him.

Itachi had lived with the death of his family, his only reprieve from the burden was that his beloved little brother and the little girl he'd left behind was alive, was breathing, was well. That one day his brother would be strong enough to deliver him into the abyss of death. But he didn't think he could live with this, everything would be a reminder that she was gone, the missing feeling of her skin against his, the cold place beside him where her warmth used to be, the empty silence that was once filled with her laughter.

The most horrible part of it all was that he couldn't follow her, he wouldn't follow her. She had given him and his brother everything she had, had forgiven him for the ultimate crime against her, and had ultimately given her life for them.

It was extremely ironic, that in committing the most selfless act of kindness, she had created the cruelest punishment imaginable.

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><p>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter three: Through a Foxes Eyes**_

Naruto stirred his bowl of ramen and tired to take another bite; it tasted off, and felt like sandpaper in his mouth. He pushed the bowl away disconcerted, for the first time in his life he didn't want a bowl of Ichiraku's ramen. Sakura placed a hand on his arm, and peered up at him her face full of concern. Oddly enough her display of affection didn't elate him as it usually would, his cheeks didn't warm, or his stomach flutter. The revelation made him feel uneasy, he tried to give her a reassuring smile but it felt unnatural and forced.

"Naruto, you're crying" she whispered, as if she was afraid that any higher octave of voice would break him. Gingerly he pressed his fingers to his cheek, startled when they came back wet. Why was he crying?

_** You know why, don't you.**_

Naruto's brain refused to accept it even though his heart without a doubt knew. It explained the reason why everything looked so grey. Why he couldn't explain the feeling that something important and irreplaceable was gone. Why he suddenly felt disinterested.

'_You'll know.'_

A cold shiver ran down his spine as he was reminded of her words. They had been absolute and without a shadow of a doubt that he would know when she was gone, when she no longer walked the earth. Naruto suddenly felt sick, and then he saw it out the corner of his eye, the familiar flutter of a crimson scarf, and the messy bob of white hair. He turned around slowly on his stool, trembling, his heart hammering painfully in his chest.

And there the dark skinned girl was, dressed in a dark orange kimono with peach flowers trailing up the side, a pastel yellow obi around her waist, her trademark crimson scarf wrapped around her neck, and a sad smile on her lips.

Hot and disgusting bile crawled up his throat, and spewed out past his lips. He was on the ground, his fingers curled in the dirt, heaving painfully. Sakura was at his side calling out his name, but he couldn't hear her. All he could her was the echo of familiar words, beating against his skull.

'_The only time I'll wear orange is when I'm dead.'_

It had seemed funny then, and Naruto had taken it as a joke, but she always did have a morbid sense of humor.

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><p>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter four: A step forward** _

Thirteen years ago**….**

"_**Do you know what it truly means to lose your soul Child?"**_

_She looked up at the dragon in man's form, her toes curled in the snowy ground, slush seeping through the gaps and sending a chill up her spine. The dragon's luminescent violet orbs burned into her own pale blue ones demanding an answer to his question. The grip of his glossy clawed fingers were tight on the armrest of his throne fashioned of ice, the midnight strands of his hair shifting around his pale face as he leaned forward, warm breath mingled into the cool air, suspended in a puff of white vapor as they were at that very moment._

_Fisting her small hands at her side, she twisted the fabric of her pastel yellow sun dress in her sweaty palms. The pupils in her eyes dilated into large black disc, the pulse in her throat quickened into a high crescendo, and her heart slammed into her chest violently almost painfully. It was a sign that she was adrenaline fueled, that the animal budding inside her was awakening._

_A frosty gust of wind twisted around her small body, whipping her hair back like a proud white banner as she squared her shoulders and braced her feet._

"_**Who needs a soul, when one has no notion of what a heart is. It seems like a useless weight in my opinion"**_

_The words dripped like thick black poison from her lips, taking a dark form in the air. The dragon melted in his seat, heaving out a sigh of satisfaction. His blue tinged lips curled over the rows of his gleaming white teeth like little ivory daggers, and he crooked his finger signaling for her to step forward. Yes after so long this was the soul he was looking for._

"_**I will give you the power that you seek Tetsuna Yuki**__"_

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><p>Seven years afterward…<p>

Bright light leaked through Tetsuna's lids, the warmth of the morning sun splayed across her skin like a lover's gentle kiss. Slowly her lashes peeled back over her eyes, her pupils shrinking into little dark points at the sudden blinding brightness of the infinite blue sky. The perfume of the grass crushed beneath her body wafted in the air, and she could hear the buzzing of insects and the distant sound of conversations.

"_**Did you hear, that Uzamaki kid passed"**_

Wearily she rubbed the heel of her palm against her eyes ringed with dark circles of exhaustion while pushing her-self in an upright positon. Goosebumps rose along her arms from the fading ghost chill of her dream.

"_**Did you see the anbu last night?"**_

Tetsuna narrowed her eyes thoughtfully; she wondered why a memory like that would resurface so suddenly, she was sure she had pushed all those insignificant details of her life deep in the recesses of her mind a long time ago. They would do her no good during the present road she was steadily walking down; she pressed her fingers against the cool strip of metal of her Hitai-ate secured tightly around her waist, tracing the swirling leaf pattern engraved deep in the metal. Her foot was just in the threshold.

"_**Does anyone know what happened to Mizuki-sensei?"**_

'Was Balsa behind this?'

She squeezed her arm tightly, the crystal shozoiki jiu-dzu looped around her wrist clicking. From her right shoulder blade down to her forearm, a phantom pain throbbed dully. Tetsuna wouldn't put it passed the serpent, he had plans of his own, of_** that**_ she was sure of , whether they interfered with her own plans she was also very positive that he didn't care. So for now Tetsuna didn't look too much into it, instead she let her eyes wander around the Academy grounds, scrutinizing all her potential team mates.

"_**Does anyone know where Sasuke-Kun is?"**_

A grimace etched her features; her prospects didn't look very promising.

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><p>A bird of prey circled over head, its majestic wings glinting in the light, its amber eyes watching, observing the academy students, namely three in particular.<p>

Sarutobi peered into the clear orb depicting the Academies court yard, his tan hands folded over from age and dusted with liver spots was placed on top of four manila folders, three of them very thick.

His thin lips pulled on his pipe pensively; sucking in the burning tobacco leaves. As he sunk back into his chair he let out a pungent wreath of smoke.

Sarutobi let his shrewd dark eyes trail up toward the silver haired jounin who was standing idly with his hands shoved into his pocket, his one dark eye meeting his.

"Are you sure about this Hokage-Sama" asked not the Jounin he was presently sharing a meaningful glance with, but the anxious Chunin instructor who was presently frowning with concern, he seemed to stand stiffly as if he was in pain.

"Very much so Iruka-san" he started, interlacing his fingers on top of the surface of his glossy mahogany desk. "Those four might clash very badly in the beginning … but I believe this to be our best option."

Sarutobi tipped his head ever so slightly so that the wide brim of his hat cast a shadow over his eyes to hide the glimmer of doubt, he was not entirely sure his plan would work. But shinobi in the village were very few and he really couldn't spread them out further than what he already had.

And besides he wanted to have those three under close surveillance, they were extreme persons of interest in the council's eyes. And after the Mizuki incident last night…there were very few people he trusted. Especially not with sole surviving Uchiha, the Kyuubi vessel, and the child who had come to them with a gaping hole in her abdomen and somehow managed to have nothing but a fading pink scar the next day and a strange marking on her entire arm.

Yes, having those three close would be for the best, or at least he hoped so. He knew that they could also become a rather glaringly obvious target.

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><p>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter five: Impressions**_

Salty beads of sweat rolled down Sasuke's forehead as he crouched uncomfortably underneath the thick green canopy of a moderate sized oak. He made sure he was balanced on the thick branch properly before he wiped away the sweat with the back of his hand, his dark eyes shifting around skittishly at the base of the tree. Easily he took on the essence of a frightened animal trying to escape a pack of wild dogs, frenzied by the smell of fresh meet. His analogy was completely justifiable in his case; teenage girls were a very strange species indeed, and he preferred not to be turned into Sasuke Steak.

"Does anyone know where Sasuke-Kun is?"

Sasuke shrunk against the thick trunk of the tree, wincing when the bark scratched him through his high collar, cotton, navy t-shirt. He waited with baited breath until the familiar pinkette walked out of his field of vision; it was only when he counted to ten and was sure that she wasn't coming back that he was able to breathe normally.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were two females Sasuke liked to avoid as if his life depended on it.

'And it very well might', he thought dryly.

Inspired by the Haruno's appearance Sasuke scanned the courtyard for her blonde rival, only for his eyes to find something else entirely.

Inching across the thick branch, he made a face when the bark scraped against his knees. The pain didn't compare to the feeling of the wound he was sure had scabbed over, being gauged open into something fresh, raw, and bleeding.

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><p>'Flash back'<p>

_Sasuke felt like he was on top of the world riding on his brothers shoulders, he giggled happily as they walked through the village. His small arms wrapped around his brother's neck, his nose pressed into his brother's hair, snuggling closer to his comforting warmth. _

_His brother's feet paused, stopping the comfortable pace they had been going at. Confused he looked over Itachi's head to see what was blocking their path. His small face scrunched up in childish displeasure._

_It was a __**girl.**_

_She looked more like a shaggy dog with all that hair in Sasuke's opinion. Her head turned, and her scary eyes made him shrink back against his brother, his cheeks immediately flooded with crimson shame at being frightened by a female of all things._

_Pride hurt, he raised his head to meet her eyes again, but she wasn't even looking at him. She was blankly staring at Itachi's extended hand, eyeing the offered stick of dango as if she wanted to slap it to the ground and stomp it into the dirt. _

_Instead she turned away from them and lost herself in the crowd. He didn't understand when his brother muttered the words 'maybe next time,' and neither did he care. Sasuke was too much of a child to care about the weird girl with the stupid long hair. His brain was more pleasantly occupied with the thought that maybe his brother would show him his cool kunai trick today._

'End flashback'

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><p>For seven years Sasuke had made it a point to avoid Tetsuna. She was a constant reminder, and undoubtedly brought back unpleasant memories that he'd rather forget. There was also the underlying guilt that he harbored that prevented him from actually approaching her, he didn't think he could handle the cold rejection he had seen her direct at people she categorized as unimportant . Sasuke preferred to not put himself in her path to where she would be given the opportunity; it was one emotional attachment he couldn't bare to sever completely.<p>

A small voice that suspiciously sounded like his own whispered that he was a coward; he pushed that voice far into the back of his mind.

Tetsuna had changed, and Sasuke's eyes drank in every detail that his mind refused to register, replacing the image of a dowered face child, to one of a dowered face teenager. He felt the foreign sensation of his mouth pulling into a small smile, he immediately stopped himself.

The long strands he remembered childishly wrapping around his small fingers was now only a short bob of hair that barely reached her chin, with messy unkempt bangs that fell over the top portion of her face. The dark bruises lining the skin beneath her eyes suggested that she got little sleep, her slim face a sign she ate little. Her mouth, something that used to be small, was wide and set in an expressive cruel line. He avoided looking into her eyes, having the same irrational fear he had as a child, only for completely different reasons.

Tetsuna stretched her arms above her head, arching her back and standing on the very toes of the dark blue sandals; the beads she wore around her wrist glittering beneath the sunlight.

She settled back onto her heels, the plain black long sleeved shirt she wore sliding down into place, not quite touching the waist band of her dark pants and revealing the mesh shirt beneath.

"Hey Sasuke-kun what are you doing up there" a shrill feminine voice called out.

The Uchiha was completely unaware he had inched even closer towards visibility.

Startled, he flinched violently losing his balance in the process. The wind roared in his ears as he fell, and instinct took over his body. He twisted his frame so that he would land on his feet; his heels had barely touched the ground before he started to take off into a dead sprint, the sound of multiple pairs of feet stamping into the ground behind him made him strain his skinny legs.

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><p>Tetsuna balanced herself on the side of the Academies building, her sandals digging into the side of the concrete wall, and her nails digging into the wooden sill of her classroom window, surely digging splinters into her fingertips.<p>

She raised her bruised knuckles and rapped the glass pane in a quick familiar rhythm, patiently, hanging a good twenty feet above the hard unforgiving ground, she waited.

It only took a moment later for the glass to slide, creakily open. Her nostrils flare when the aroma of salt and barbeque assaulted her. Curling her fingers into the sill, she pressed her palms flat against the wooden surface and used her bicep muscles to push herself up, swiftly vaulting her body through the opening.

Tetsuna landed in a crouching position, one hand out to keep her balance; and her feet hitting the ground with an inaudible step. The hood of her sleeveless dark blue vest fell forward, obscuring her vision, only for her to roughly shove it back.

Choji stood to the side, steadily munching on a bag of barbequed chips. His thick fingers paused on the way to his mouth, his pink tongue darting out to lick the crumbs from his greasy lips.

"Front entrance blocked" he inquired with knowing amber eyes. Tetsuna gave a simple curt nod, eyeing the entrance with a growing form of disdain, her teeth grit. The gaggling group of females crowding at the door gave kunoichi a bad name, especially if they were fawning over the Uchiha brat. He was arrogant and most likely would put his teammates in danger.

'_He doesn't play well with others'; _she thought morosely, vaguely remembering an experience that alluded to his defective temperament.

"What a drag" Shikamaru yawned into his hand, peering out the window lethargically from his desk. He scratched his chin, as of thinking, and then placed his head into the crock of his arm…promptly falling back to sleep.

The analytical genius raising his head at all was in his own twisted logical way of acknowledging the psychological strategist as an equal; she was always a good shogi opponent and besides Choji didn't share food with just anybody.

Choji's chair scraped back, as he plopped back down in his seat next to his best friend. The aluminum bag was crushed in his hand, and then duly replaced by another; he pulled out a cookie wrapped in plastic from his weapons pouch.

Extending his hand out; he gave her wide smile that animated the extra flesh around his face attractively, as per usual with people with compassionate dispositions.

"I know you didn't eat lunch" he replied, simply uncurling her fingers with his unoccupied hand and placing it in her palm neatly. Tetsuna wouldn't eat it, and the auburn haired boy knew it. But Choji in some sense of selfishness did it more for himself, and she let him do it though she knew without out a doubt that she could crush the well rounded boys hand before he could blink.

She accepted the baked good placing it in her pocket to be thrown away later and trotted up the steps to her own seat at the very back of the classroom. There was no use in arguing with the Akamichi, she had learned the hard way that the boy was annoyingly persistent.

The place was full of loud chatter and obnoxious excitement that most of the newly minted Genin didn't notice her breeze past. It was rather ridiculous that a strip of metal and cloth would make so many lose their shinobi bearing, and throw all they learned out the window.

It made her snort derisively that they entertained the notion of becoming shinobi. Quietly she took her seat, and intertwined her fingers on top of her desk, observing the room and its occupants with astute eyes and wicked amusement.

**_'They were like fresh lambs on shaky limbs, drunk on from their mothers tit, being led straight into the slaughter house,'_** it was a pleasant thought to think about.

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><p>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Before I start this chapter, I want to say thank you to all the people who read, followed, made my story a favorite, and still continue to read. Unfortunately tomorrow I will be leaving to resume training at Fort Leonardwood, and won't have accesses to a computer for a while. Rest assured however that the story will eventually be completed as soon as I get readily available accesses to a computer, because I know the frustrating feeling of not knowing the ending to a story and I wouldn't want to do that to anyone. **

**Also, I would really appreciate it if everyone who visits the story today left a review on how they felt the about the story in general and if they'd like to see it continue. Whether or not people do review will not effect me completing the story, its just something I wanted to take with me as encouragement. Thank you all my lovely readers.**

**_-Luna's flower_**

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><p><strong><em>Chapter six: The look of a child<em>**

Predictably the noise in the room persisted until Iruka-sensei walked stiffly inside the classroom. His dark eyes narrowed, as he observed the unruly bunch of students, too busy chattering away or just plainly not paying attention, with thinly veiled exasperation.

Yes, there were a few students who noticed the chunin instructor watching them with his arms crossed beneath his chest and his clip board tucked beneath his arm pit, and Iruka accordingly noted them. But it personally insulted him as a teacher that his students hadn't applied anything he had taught them, it didn't bode well for their futures.

'_**SMACK'**_

The room descended into a quite hush, Iruka lifted his hand from the surface of his desk, his palm red and smarting, but his point made. He gave the classroom a disapproving look, but didn't verbally reprimand them. Instead he leaned against his desk, trying to find a comfortable position with the aching pain radiating from his back; he flipped through the sheets attached to his clipboard, examining them before raising his eyes to the classroom.

"I have your assigned three man cells and instructors here" he started, holding up the board in his hand for emphasis. "However do to the current odd number of graduating students there will be a four man cell."

A wave of excited whispers swept the room like wildfire, only to be immediately squashed by one annoyed look from their instructor, after a solid moment of silence, he began reading off the names.

Tetsuna listened with vague attention, drumming her finger nails in a steady rhythmic beat with one hand and her chin rested in the palm of her other. Her eyes followed the path of the sun across the firmament, marking the time with anxious anticipation. A persistent gnawing hunger began to paw inside her mind; her abhorrence boiled the blood running through the intricate web of veins in her body like liquid hot fire.

_Soon she will subdue the unrelenting, almost malevolent storm brewing inside for the time being. _

"**Sakura Haruno"**

Tetsuna sucked in a breath of air, trying to calm her frayed nerves and retain her level headedness. Giving away to emotions would only make her falter later, high octane adrenaline was not her friend.

"**Sasuke Uchiha"**

The pinkette smiled brightly, fist pumping to her-self, she twisted in her seat, her emerald eyes finding her indignant platinum blonde rival and giving her a look filled with smug satisfaction.

'_Take that Ino-pig' _

"**Naruto Uzamaki"**

The smugness, faded from her expression, patches of red appeared on her face in splotches of bright color, as he rival gave her a triumphant smirk . She turned toward the other blonde who was giving her toothy expression, blue eyes filled with hopefulness. Her eyes lowered into slits making her expression extremely unkind, he _always_ had to ruin something.

Naruto was caught between elation, at being on the same team as his crush, and depression at being on the same team as that bastard Uchiha. There was a war raging inside in his head at the bittersweet news, and the warring expression of his features was rather comical.

"**And Tetsuna Yuki"**

As quickly as the color had risen in Sakura's cheeks, it had quickly drained, washing away her annoyance with icy cold dread. It left her looking as white as a sheet, shaken she peeked apprehensively toward the last member of their team. The female in question turned to face them enticed from her daydreaming by the sound of her name.

She didn't have any particular expression on her face from the announcement, she didn't even seem to care, her eyes holding an unrelentingly blankness.

"**Your instructors name is Kakashi Hatake" **

Their eyes met and Sakura quickly swiveled around in her seat and bit her lip, an uneasy feeling bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

Karma had an ironic bitchy sort of humor, which most of the time left Tetsuna highly amused. However Tetsuna was extremely un-amused at the moment, her eyes fell on Uchiha's tensed back; there was a cackling strike of lighting somewhere in the midst of her storm.

_'Kill me once shame on you… Kill me twice shame on me.' _

It seemed seemed her fate would be intertwined with his no matter how much she wished it wasn't.

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><p><em>Pin pricks of sharp pain stabbed through every part of Tetsuna's body, she was on her knees curled in on herself, head bowed, her small hands barely wrapping around the girth of the splintered spear of wood gauging through her. <em>

_Impure flakes of ash and snow fell down in flurries from the pillaring cloud of black smoke over head, blood tears gushed down in rivulet from her eyes, turning her vision scarlet, streams leaked from her gaping belly down her arms and hands, dripping onto the ground to create a disgusting solution of mushy frozen water, mud and blood.._

_Tetsuna squeezed her lids shut tightly, trying to block out the brutish image of the towering bright orange flames clawing at the sky with the ferocity of an angry beast. The cool darkness did nothing to block out the wails and moans of the burning, it echoed, reverberated, pounded, just like the sound of her heart in her ears, and her shallow breathing._

_And then she started the slow torturous method of un-impaling herself, her innards had been speared through and was pulled along, sending Tetsuna in spasms of white hot agony that made her body tremble. Her lips spread open and she emitted gurgling, drowning sounds as she tried to wail with blood gushing past her teeth. It hit the ground with a disturbing wet '__**splat'**__. The smell of burning flesh, mixed with the putrid perfume of smoke, burned straight through the strong metallic aroma of her blood. She gagged, her heaving making her innards clench painfully on the shard, sending, if possible, and even more intense convulsion of pain through every nerve in her body, and she was sure her unsteady shaking hands caused her to stab through some other important organ inside her body, the pain swept up in the more intense wave racking her tiny frame. _

_However, even in pain, she still continued to pull, even when the pain over ran everything. _

_It became the only feeling, the sound ringing in her ears, the smell burning through her nostrils, the image spilling behind her closed lids, and the coppery taste in her mouth. _

_Her body arched backward, as she pulled out the final few inches from her body, with one powerful wrench. Blood splattered in a line of thick liquid, her eyes flew open, to peer emptily at the blotched out sky, her arms falling limply at her side, the wooden spear rolling from her lifeless fingers. _

_There was the sound of rushing feet plowing harshly against the ground._

_It was only a moment that she stared like that, wondering where god was, until the darkness started to creep around the edges of her vision, and her body began to make its decent downward, it felt like forever before she landed on her back taking in the two blurry dark figures becoming more solid as her vision became darker. _

"_**God! It's only a child"**_

_It was the only thing she heard before everything went black._

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><p>Naruto was bored, he sat rocking in his chair, teetering dangerously on its back legs, his fingers interlaced behind his head, and his eyes trained on the blank white ceiling. His one attempt at interacting with the one unknown member of his team had ended with him getting bored of her one syllable respnses rather quickly.<p>

His eyes trailed over the now empty classroom, every instructor having already picked up their assigned teams a good hour and a half ago, they landed on the ticking analog clock above the black board. It was as if it was taunting him.

'_Where was this guy?'_

Naruto let gravity pull him down with a loud and sharp 'bang'. Sakura flinched, completely unprepared for the sudden noise in the virtually silent room.

"Don't do stuff like that Narutard" she hissed meanly, ashamed that she had been caught off guard in front of Sasuke. The blonde took it all in stride, and grinned sheepishly in her direction, turning his head in the other direction to hide the glint of hurt in his eyes.

"Please refrain from making such spiteful comments, it makes you look juvenile Haruno-San" Tetsuna murmured, shifting from the shelter of her arms, to lean back in her seat, she shoved the hood from off her head, and scrubbed her face with both palms, trying desperately to wake herself from the remaining visages of her dream provoked memory.

She hadn't raised her voice at all, hadn't even intoned her words with any infliction of passionate type of emotion, yet her voice demanded attention. Even the comatose Uchiha, who had chosen to ignore everyone in the room, let his eyes fall onto her for a lingering moment; before he turned away with a thoughtful expression.

Sakura sunk in her seat and glared at the blackboard hard, and muttered the word **_'freak'_** beneath her breath.

It didn't escape her notice that Sasuke had come out of his self imposed silence to actually _look _at her, and _not_ glare or stare at her blankly, but actually _look_ at her as if she were another human being. _**Nothing**_ about Sasuke escaped her notice, and an illogical sense of jealousy at not being able to draw the Uchiha's attention bubbled beneath the surface of her skin.

There was a thick wall of tension in the air, that even Naruto, as dense as he usually was, could feel. He jittered uncomfortably, his eyes roaming around the room for something to _do_; he spotted the eraser sitting innocently on the bored, the gears in his head turning. A slow mischievous grin spread across his face until it was a full blown toothy smile.

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><p>"This is stupid Naruto, our instructor is a Jounin. Do you think he would fall for a something as stupid as that?" Sakura warned, watching the blonde carefully balance the eraser on the edge of the slightly cracked door from a chair he had pushed close to the wall. The said blonde looked down into her green eyes, with a shrewd look in his own.<p>

"I know that, I just want to test our new sensei's skills is all."

Sakura blinked rapidly, surprised that Naruto had actually said something that made, in a way, some sort of sense, and if she was being honest with herself she really hoped that whoever this Hatake person was would fall for it, then at least one person she was annoyed with today would get penalized.

So silently she cheered Naruto on, because she wouldn't ever be caught dead doing it.

Tetsuna was flipping the pages of a small blue book, its pages filled with knowledge on poison inducing herbs. Her tongue rolled a lollipop in her mouth, hallowing her cheeks to suck the flavor off of the hard ball of sour candy. She took the stick out of her mouth, with a '_plop_'.

"You know he's walking down the hall right now" she announced, shoving the sweet back in her mouth and flipping another page in her book, she could hear the silent pattering of feet on the halls wooden floors.

Before Naruto could ask how she was sure, the classroom door opened, and a deathly silence followed, along with a chalk cloud of dust spitting up into the air. The eraser hit the ground after sliding off a head of gravity defying silver hair; the owner of said hair looked around the room with one dark eye, the rest of his face covered by a mask and his drooping Hitai-ate.

There was a range of emotion's displayed during that minute it took for the Jounin to blink slowly and then speak, the most obvious one being disbelief.

"My first impression it that I hate you all," he drawled slowly, "Meet me on the roof in three minutes."

And then the door slammed shut, leaving two flabbergast teens, one bewildered one, and one mistrustful one. Tetsuna closed her book, gently and placed back inside her weapons case.

"Well that was interesting" she announced, dryly.

* * *

><p>Kakashi took in each and every one of his pupils, taking in their unique features and mannerisms. There was a long stretch of silence before Kakashi clapped his hands together to garner their attention.<p>

"Alright you four, let's get to know each other better, like our likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals for the future and such" he said, wiggling his gloved fingers in a sarcastic manner. "I'll go first"

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, as you have probably have already gathered. My likes are many things, dislikes well I have plenty of those too. My goals for the future, well I really don't think you need to know that."

Kakashi wanted to see if they could catch on to what he was trying to do, it was the first lesson he would teach them. Never expose yourself to a prospective adversary, no matter how affable they seemed to be, it was a simple enough concept to grasp.

"You blondie, go first" he said pointing to the Uzamaki boy sitting between the two females.

The boy twiddled his thumbs and stared at everything but Kakashi, he was still a little antsy at having been caught red handed, but when he finally did meet Kakashi's eyes there was a determined look in his blue orbs and an energy that spoke of a courageous character. It reminded him of someone he had known a very long time ago.

"My name is Naruto Uzamaki. My likes are pranks and ramen, my dislikes are the three minuets it takes to cook ramen, my hobbies are pranks and eating all different types of ramen, and my goals for the future is to one day become Hokage so that people will acknowledge me."

'_Well that one was a fail'. _

Next came the pink haired girl sitting to the right, she meekly kept her eyes focused on her lap, her fingers twirling her hair around her fingers. Though her file had stated that she had the top score in her class for females, it looked to Kakashi that she had studied more than applied throughout her academy days. In this instance however he was sure that she would catch on to the subtle message he was trying to send.

He was sorely disappointed by the results at the end, leaving the blushing, gaggling teenaged mess he turned his focus on the claimed Uchiha prodigy.

'_Knowledge only got a person so far without the experience to exercise it properly'_

The Uchiha boy was sitting in the back, arrogantly meeting his eyes with a look of self righteous smugness, although his face held a neutral expression. It was obvious the boy thought his skill level was good, probably even better than his team members. It dimly reminded Kakashi of how he had been as genin and it worried him. But the whole point of his exercise flew over the boys head, and his last sentence left a sour vibe in the atmosphere.

"…my goal in life is to kill a certain someone."

The last Genin he observed perplexed him for a moment, she radiated a completely different sensation than the other three had, while the other three had characteristics of what students fresh out of the academy usually had, anxiety, cockiness, a readiness for anything, something he expected, this one was different.

While the Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto still held the look of bright eyed children who hadn't experienced taking a life with their own hands, to feel the rush of power of being god for a fleeting moment, to live with the weight of another's life on their hands, it seemed absent in this girl who held a disconcerting familiarity.

"My name is Tetsuna Yuki; the things I dislike and like are generally the same in numbers I guess. My hobbies aren't really important enough to mention, and my goal in life…" here she paused looking off into the sky as if contemplating her answer, a slow voracious smile spread across her lips, her teeth glistened menacingly. "… My goal in life is to someday repay all the people who have helped me become what I am."

Her words hung in the air, her goal sounded innocent enough, noble even, but Kakashi wasn't who he was for nothing. Her underlying message was clear, and it held more force than the Uchiha's claim, because although the drive to kill was in the boy, he was still just a kid on the inside, that much he couldn't hide, not matter how much he tired. This girl had a soulless look to her glassy eyes, an awareness and age the bellied her appearance.

She peered at him with eerier calmness beneath the shadow of her hood, they were like marbles, not inner light in them at all, reflecting a luster he had seen throughout his entire career, one that was even present in his own eyes.

It was the remorseless, malicious look of a killer.

_Children aren't we all?_

* * *

><p><em>R&amp;R. Thanks for reading<em>


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